The BAT Book is here!

The book looks awesome. It is big and glossy and beautiful. Once again a big thank you to Grisha for letting me contribute to this enlightening and groundbreaking book. I’ll admit that working on this book was not like any of my other dog illustration jobs. Most of these drawings were based on and originally inspired by my own PERSONAL training experiences with Boogie so it is an extra exhilirating feeling to hold this book in my hands.

Over a year ago, when I created my very first “BAT Set-Up” illustration I was still very much a BAT newbie, learning the protocol for the first time, and also learning to read Boogie. In this illustration (see below), in Step 1, even though I labeled it “Safe Distance”, the drawing of Boogie shows stress. He is clearly “over-threshold” ie, NOT at a safe distance from the trigger. In other words, my depiction of the set-up was wrong.

Note: INCORRECT illustration!

I wish I could’ve fixed this illustration before it got translated into different languages and shared around the internet, but… sigh… Thank goodness for the book! I hope that people who are still sharing the old illustration will refer to the updated version.

In the book (and also in Grisha’s latest BAT Set-Up handout) the NEW and UPDATED “BAT Set-Up” illustration shows an unstressed under-threshold dog… as he should be. The learning of Replacement Behaviors (or Good Choices) happens only when the dog is under-threshold.

Updated CORRECT illustration - click to see larger

A clipping from the book below, which is such an important memo.

Reactive dogs need to feel this sense of control in being able to disengage from stress on their own… which is what leads to social confidence and politeness. Hey, I think this applies to humans too. :)

In the last chapter of the book there are testimonials from dog trainers who have used BAT. They share their experiences . I love this one in particular from Shelly Volsche …

I’ve downloaded it from the webpage, no problem at all!
Love the book and love your pictures. I’ll be writing about it in my blog next week, I’ll send you a link (it’s in spanish, though).
Your pictures are awesome! my clients and friends love them, and they understand everything so much faster!

Although I am very sad that Boogie got in a fight. Lili, you are AMAZING at turning even the hardest moments with your feisty boy into such wisdom! Thank you, as always, for sharing your process, your thinking, and your journey with us!

[…] found it to give his dog collar corrections as he had been taught to do. I gave my friend a copy of the BAT book and not too eloquently explained to him the difference between the Positive Reinforcement method of […]

I have two Wire Fox terriers. My boy isn’t neutered and sometimes gets into fights at the dog park. I already know that he does not like Pitbulls and Rottweilers and large aggressive dogs. But sometimes even medium sized dogs he doesn’t like. I really like that you have shown so clearly different stages of alert and stress with your Boston Terrier, as I have seen my terriers make many of those same poses before and not known they were speaking a language. I’m hoping I’ll be better able to judge their stress level and leave or correct him before he gets into it with another dog. I think I might get the BAT manual too. Thanks! ^.^

Thanks for visiting and commenting! It wasn’t until 1-2 years after adopting Boogie that I learned to read his body language and understand all the subtle signals. Many people say Boogie is unusually “difficult to read” because he gives off a generally calm disposition (… sometimes this appearance of “calmness” is actually “silent tension” or stiffness)

When I started using BAT with our trainer, it took some time before I could SEE this difference in him and prevent any sort of stress. One tiny bit of stress would lead to more stress. BAT is great because there is a huge emphasis on stress-free learning.

I don’t take Boogie to dog parks because this is too unpredictable an environment. You can’t control how other dogs are going to behave, and your dog can’t escape from dogs that he doesn’t like. It’s too stressful for Boogie and for me too! I prefer for Boogie to have private play dates with dogs that he knows and likes.

I highly recommend the BAT book and getting a trainer that knows it! Good luck!

[…] concentration: an eye-blink, an ear-flicker or a tiny shift of his head. It’s a bit like in BAT: wait for a polite signal or loosening up of body language. When I see any tiny sign of movement on […]